MelSkunk's stories

The fancies of monarchs often lead to a frenzy of interest by their subjects. King Bhumibol Adulyadej, ruler of Thailand, first introduced his favorite dog, Khun Thongdaeng, as part of his annual birthday speech, counciling his people to be kind to strays. The streets-to-palace pooch was a stray nursed to health by a palace doctor, then given to the king as a gift.
After the king's prostrate surgery, he was seen wearing a polo shirt with a photo of his dog and her puppies, which quickly became the thing to have. A dessert book was written by Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn to give the recipies for the traditional dished the puppies were named after. And now a book, "The Story of Thongdaeng," is flying off the shelves. Written by the king himself to tell the tale of his favorite friend, it's not only a history, but also written as a moral lessons. Proceeds, as with the earlier works, go to a palace founded charity to aid stray dogs.

The Fundação Parque Zoológico de São Paulo also known as the Sao Paulo Zoo, is auctioning off 143 animals from 10 different species to pay for their renovations, and endangered species research. Though most zoos just auction off pictures or 'adoptions' of the animals, this is the real thing. You can get a pair of peacocks for $1000 or a trio of porcupines for $1500, along with a care booklet.
Animal welfare groups are concerned, but the zoo says all animals will be microchiped to track their ownership. Wilson Almeida Lima, from Brazil's institute for the environment and natural resources said: "If there is an accusation of bad treatment of those animals we are going to punish the responsible. We hope whoever buys an animal takes good care of it." The zoo hopes to raise at least $100,000 though the sales.

Malta Mouse? A 700 year old fresco being uncovered at a small church revealed a cartoon animal among the devotees to St. Christopher that is so much like Mickey Mouse, some art historians think it could be used to challange the copyright. Most notable in the big, round set of circle ears on the head, the Mickey-like mouse could apparently be another animal, such as a weasel or beaver.
Disney should just be glad the bird beside the mouse doesn't look like Donald.

A survey by a British mobile phone company discovered one in three users have mistakenly sent text messages to the wrong person, often with bizare and embarassing results. From a fellow who wanted to message his friend for the number of a girl he liked, and ended up sending it to his current girlfriend, to explicit messages being mistakenly sent from daughter to mom, mis-paging a message isn't so uncommon.
A company spokesman said, "Most people dropped clangers because they flicked through their mobile phone book and clicked on the wrong name. For instance users who had meant to send to Dan or Danielle click on the name before which in many cases is Dad."
And you thought 'maving' on a muck was embarassing...